Memories Within
by Ebony Dear
Summary: Prequel to Follow Me, Don't Be Afraid. Akemi and Riku's relationship before she was taken away. SxK, RxOC. If you're a first time reader I suggest the sequel to this first.
1. Girl Talk

**-Disclaimer-**

**I don't own Kingdom Hearts or any of its affiliates. I won't for any of the future chapters either. So there you go.**

**Author's Note:**_ Here's the Prequel to Follow Me, Don't Be Afraid. It is the tale of how Akemi and Riku's relationship was before she was taken away. It's definately based more on romance besides the first chapter. SxK and RxOC. The sequel will not be out until I finish this prequel. Don't rush me! Reviews wanted, criticism appreciated if it is constructive. Let this begin. _

**Chapter One: Girl Talk**

Akemi sat on the wooden floor hearing Kairi scream at her from the kitchen.

"Do you want some pineapple? I have some popcorn, what about that?"

A loud crash was heard from the other room. Akemi hurried out to see Kairi had fallen on her butt on the tiled floor.

"You okay Kairi?"

She stood up, "Yeah."

Akemi helped her brush off and reached for the pineapple. She grabbed the kitchen knife.

"What were you trying to get to all the way up there?" Akemi asked as she started to cut the shell off of the pineapple.

Kairi blushed. "Well..."

"What?"

"It's a paopu I picked from Riku's tree. Don't tell him, he'll kill me!"

Akemi laughed. "No he wouldn't, we're all friends." She continued to cut the pineapple into bite-sized pieces.

"May I ask why you picked one?"

"For you!" Kairi said, but quickly added, "For you and Riku..."

Akemi's eyes widened, and she stopped cutting the pineapple. Kairi thought to explain herself quickly.

"I-I, want-ted..."

"Wait," Akemi stopped her, picking up a bowl of the pineapple she sliced. "Let's go and tackle this food in your bedroom before you stutter yourself into a coma."

Kairi nodded.

Kairi and Akemi sat on her bed, each grabbing for the pineapple in the bowl. They were both pretty hungry because Kairi's parents were out for the night, and neither of the girls could cook to save their lives.

"So," Akemi broke the silence, "Why did you take the paopu fruit?"

"You and Riku look really cute together, I just thought you too could share one. You both have been very close anyway, and there aren't a lot of other guys on the island..." She trailed off.

"That's sweet Kairi," Akemi replied while pulling her in for a friendly hug, "but I've already shared a paopu with Riku."

Kairi's mouth dropped open. "When!"

"Last year, when we were alone on the island watching the sunset."

"So then... are you and Riku?" She inquired, the excitement growing in her voice.

"Well we didn't date right after that, if that's what you mean," Akemi finished while grabbing another piece of pineapple.

"Oh," Kairi sounded disappointed.

"He asked me out two nights ago," Akemi told her.

A squeal escaped from Kairi, "Did you say yes?" Akemi could see Kairi starting to hold her breath in suspense.

"I said yes," Akemi answered. She smiled as she remembered. Her first boyfriend and first kiss were wrapped all in that one night.

"So how was your guys' first date? You sure kept it a good secret!"

This remark brought Akemi out of her reminiscing.

_We haven't had a first date yet._

Kairi could almost read her mind. After all, they had been close since she moved there. "Well, what're you going to do for your first date. It has to be really good!"

Akemi was flustered. She hadn't thought about what to do for a first date. That night was so magical, how would she top that? Sunset watching had already been done. Spending the night in each others arms was already experienced as well.

_Ohh, what am I going to do? Riku probably has a date and everything planned! I can't let him be the only romantic one around in this. What to do? What to do?_

"Akemi?" Kairi asked, worried about her friends troubled face and long silence.

"What?" She asked.

"Maybe you could have him over for dinner. That would be sweet." Kairi suggested.

"Grr. He always comes to dinner when he comes to hang out with Sora. Unless..."

"Unless what?"

Akemi ran back into the kitchen, pulling open drawers and searching through everything frantically.

_Where do her parents keep them?_

"What are you looking for, Akemi?" Kairi yelled, frightened at the sudden mess that Akemi was making.

"I need a COOKBOOK!" she said, not looking up from the drawer she was searching through.

Kairi reached next to the oven and pulled out two large hardback books.

"You mean, like these?" she voiced, holding up the items in front of her friends face. Akemi blushed.

"Yeah..."

"Come on, let's clean up this mess!" Kairi says as she pushes a drawer back in its spot. Akemi joins in.

Back in the room, both girls are searching in a cookbook, looking for something that looked easy but would be delicious.

"What about calamari?" Kairi mused as she stared at the picture in the book.

"You do know that's fried squid, right?" Akemi said, turning a page in her book.

A look of disgust covered Kairi's face, "ewww."

A few minutes later, Kairi chimed up again.

"How about Escargot?"

"Snail."

"Ewww."

"How about... this?"

Kairi looked at the picture Akemi held up.

"Lobster?"

Akemi nods, "You just have to boil them, basically. My mom took us out once, and we had it. It was really good."

"Do you think Riku will like it?" Kairi asked.

"I think so. I just hope he isn't allergic or anything."

"So dinner for Riku, made by you! Now that's romantic." Kairi gushes.

Akemi yawns. "Yeah, now let's go to sleep, I'm tired."

Akemi lay in her sleeping bag, thinking about her first date. _Will it go according to plan? Will Riku just laugh at me? I'm afraid. More afraid of this than when I was 4 and was learning to row my boat to the island. Ooooh, I hope I make this dinner good._

_**Preview of Next Chapter: First Date-**_

_**In an attempt to impress Riku, Akemi plans the first date. **_

_**"When do you know the water is boiling?"-Akemi**_


	2. First Date

**Chapter Two: First Date**

The sun on the island began to fade into hiding as it set. Purple darkness creeped up over the orange and yellow, making a beautiful scene for anyone who was watching the light fade away. Akemi, however, was too busy with something else to watch as the colors began to mix and slowly transform into the starry night sky.

She was making dinner for the first time.

Her mother was there to watch her, making sure she wouldn't burn down their petite island home. Akemi barely even let her do that, for she wanted to do this all by herself with no help whatsoever. It was a bold move for a girl who had not clue what she was doing with a pot or stove. She filled the pot 3/4 with water, then placed it on one of the front metal stove-top burners. She turned the knob to ignite the gas stove, and the burner on the back right ignited. She covered her mistake quickly by placing the pot of water on the already heated burner. If her mother caught that she didn't even know what knob was which, she would be out of that kitchen faster than Sora would be when he raided the refrigerator.

"Alright," she said to herself while reaching for the cookbook she borrowed. The book was already open to the recipe she was using, and she glanced at the instruction marked number 2.

_STEP 2: Before placing the lobster in the pot, make sure the water is boiling. While waiting, take out two sticks of butter and 2 lemons to prepare the dipping sauce. Step 3 will instruct the chef how to prepare the sauce._

Akemi looked down at the cookbook again. _This is going to be easy,_ she thought to herself. The "sauce"- which is actually melted butter with a few herb seasonings- was easy enough. She turned on another burner, and began to melt the butter in a small pan. As the butter started to spatter from the heat, she began to add chopped up chives into the butter. A fourth of the lemon she squeezed in as well, '_giving the sauce a citric kick' _as the book put it. So the sauce was finished, and she turned off the burner so that it wouldn't burn to a crisp.

_Now for the lobster._

She stuck her head over the pot, looking in at the steamy water. Then it hit her; she didn't know what boiling water looked like. She stared hard at the clear and unmoving liquid, checking for any hints that it was ready for the lobsters. Unfortunately, she didn't know what those indicators were.

"Umm, Mom?"

"What is it, Akemi?"

"When do you know the water is boiling?" Akemi asked.

"Let me take a look, honey."

"No!" Akemi screamed. Her mothers face became stern, but she did not scold her daughter.

"Fine. When you start to see it bubble rapidly is when you should place the lobsters in."

Akemi looked back at the pot of water. Just as her blue eyes focused on the liquid, two giants water bubbles popped right in front of her face just missing her by millimeters. She jolted back away from the stove, and fell backwards onto the tiled floor. Her mother came to her in a hurry, practically suffocating her child with embarrassment.

"Mom...stop!" Akemi whined.

They both heard a knock on the door. Akemi's heart could have stopped just then. She knew exactly who was going to be there. She knew that her lobster was not even finished yet. Yet what she knew the most was that she had little time to fix any mistakes that may occur tonight, because Riku was waiting on the other side of that door.

Sora bolted down the stairs from his room screaming, "I'll get it!"

Akemi could have kissed her brother at that moment. She was too nervous to even take one more step near that door. She dreaded that everything would go wrong with this date, and that Riku would dump her for being so catastrophic. Everything went in slow motion as the wooden front door opened, and she saw Riku. She took in his appearance, his bright yellow tank was replaced by a black collared dress-shirt. Akemi could have sworn she had only seen him wear it when his mother made him dress up for the holidays. She could see his normal dark navy pants covered by the bright blue. Anyone who stared into Riku's eyes would have seen his normal expression, devoid of emotion or worry. Akemi took this as a bad sign for the beginning of the date.

Time went from being bizarrely slow to lightspeed as she heard her mother yell for her in the kitchen. She hurried to see that her mother was tending to _her _dinner.

"Get away from there, Mom!" She nudged her mother out of the way, and looked into the pot. She blinked a few times, then turned to her mother.

"Are they done?"

Her mother gave her a sympathetic look, blue eyes showing her love for her little girl. She walked over to the pot and stared inside, then she nodded. Akemi reached for the potholders on the right side of the oven and pulled the pot off of the burner. Dinner was ready.

"Akemi," her mother whispered in her ear, "Why don't you go get dressed up nice for your first date while I set up the food and the plates?"

Time was still moving fast, and Akemi bolted up the stairs, not saying a word to her guest waiting in the living room.

Inside her room, she examined the endless amount of outfits that filled her small closet. There were dresses, shorts, and bathingsuits galore, but she couldn't find one that she thought would knock Riku out of his nonchalant demeanor. Unsatisfied with her clothes inside of the closet to examine, she proceeded to pull every one of her outfits _out. _T-shirts, blouses, shorts, pants, dresses, and skirts were all over her room; and she tip-toed through small areas of floor to get a decent look at all of her wardrobe. She began to wipe her sweaty palms on her jean shorts. Nothing had prepared her at all for this. Looking around for the tenth time, she decided that a black outfit would be best. After all, Riku was wearing black as well.

She dressed quickly in a black tank-top and black pair of shorts. It was the best she could do, because her house was always at a warm temperature and she didn't want to explain sweat rings to her new boyfriend. She pulled her brown hair into a black hair-tie, and proceeded to descend the stairs to her impending doom. Or at least that is what she thought as she passed the third step and fell on her butt; riding the rest of the stairs on her rear-end. The whole household heard the stuttering as she went down stair by stair.

"Ow-w-w-w-w-w-w-w-w-w-w-w-w-w-w-w-w-w-w-w!"

She came to a halt on the end of the staircase on the hardwood floor. She could already feel the bruises forming as Riku and Sora ran up to her. Sora helped her up, laughing hysterically at his older sister. Akemi looked at Riku as he grasped her other hand. His emotionless face was now adorned with his usual smirk, and- even though she had known him for years- she couldn't tell what he was thinking. It bothered her immensely.

Riku didn't speak to her as he led her into the dining room. The lobsters were ready and waiting. They sat down in the seats, Riku taking the one across from Akemi. She averted her eyes from him, focusing on the floral centerpiece instead. Her palms were still very sweaty. Soon everyone was eating dinner and enjoying themselves, except for Akemi. Her sweaty hands made her fumble with her silverware. She kept dropping her lobster into the butter, and each time she would have trouble digging the seafood out with her fork. She was too nervous to make eye contact with Riku, and he was just as quiet as she was.

_I wonder what he's thinking,_she thought while stealing a quick glance at his eyes_. I bet he doesn't want to be with me anymore, he's probably so mad that I dragged him into this stupid date. Maybe he doesn't even like lobster! I should've asked Sora or something. Maybe we should have ordered pizza. Ohhh, why am I so nervous about him? I've known him since I was a baby! I know all of his weird habits, and yet I can't read him tonight. There must be something I did wrong._

Akemi was so caught up in her thoughts that she ignored her sweaty hands that began to fumble with her lobster fork. She began to turn the fork faster and faster in her hands, intertwining the utensil faster and faster through her fingers. Then she lost her grip. The lobster fork went flying straight towards Riku, and he ducked just in time for the fork to imbed itself into the wall.

Her eyes grew wide as she realized what had happened. She almost killed her boyfriend!

_Poor Riku!_

Sora was laughing again as he looked at his sister, then back at his friend. Riku started to laugh as well. Akemi was too embarrassed to laugh, and she left the table to hide in her room.

As she entered, she kicked around her clothes on the floor in frustration and threw herself on her bed. Her face had to be more red than when she received her first sunburn at the age of 5. Wallowing in her minor misery, Akemi heard a soft knock on the door. It creaked as it opened to reveal Riku standing in the doorway. His face only showed a hint of concern, but it was enough for Akemi to run to him in tears for a hug.

He held her tight and whispered into her ear, " Why are you so emotional?"

She sniffed, "I wanted this to be good, I wanted it to be romantic."

"Here, sit down."

Riku led Akemi to her bed, and they both sat next to each other. A thoughtful look was plastered on Riku's face, as if he was contemplating something. After only moments he spoke up to Akemi, looking deep into her eyes to make her feel slightly uncomfortable. The bright aqua gaze still showed no sign of emotion to let Akemi know what he was thinking.

"Why did you plan this?" He asked her, his tone calm and soothing.

Akemi was still mentally criticizing herself for making such a mess of things. She twisted his words into more criticism as she began to cry silently. Riku's arm landed on her shoulder opposite of him, making him pull her close to his own. He waited a few more moments for Akemi to settle down, then he spoke again.

"I didn't mean to make you cry. I'm sorry. I just wanted to know why you planned a dinner of all things. It's just unlike what we usually do together."

Akemi sniffled a few times, attempting to hold back the mucus threatening to pour out of her nose. She spoke softly, her voice breaking every now and then through her cries.

"I wanted it to be special, something to remember. You are always romantic, and I wanted my turn to do something for you."

Riku used his other hand to wipe away the tears she had shed. Akemi averted her eyes from his, concentrating hard on the ugliest outfit she had ever owned lying on the floor in front of her. It was not as tormenting as staring into her boyfriend's eyes that moment. She felt idiotic for making such a fool of herself in front of him and her family.

He wasted little time to attempt to console her. His free hand lifted her chin up so that she was staring at him face-to-face, and he pressed his lips lightly against hers. Her thoughts melted away in that moment. She let her loving emotions take over as she kissed him back, letting him know that his efforts were not in vain. As their lips parted ways, Akemi smiled slightly at the silver-haired boy. He smirked back, giving her shoulder a slight squeeze.

"Just being with you is great, Akemi. I don't think it is any different than when we were friends, is it? There's just more kissing, which I like by the way." His smirk surfaced again.

"Don't you think it _means _more though? I don't think we were meant to be just friends."

"I don't either," he continued, "but what we have grew on friendship. We liked each other for who we were and we became closer because of it. I don't want that meaning to change into insecurity and awkward dates with each other."

Akemi laughed, finally letting go of her bitter self-ridicule. "You're right. I'm sorry about this, maybe we should stick to things that don't involve silverware."

"I was just about to say that!" He told her as she let out another giggle.

Things started to feel better between the both of them as they sat on the bed chatting. Akemi started to feel like she knew him again, and she loved every little tidbit she knew about her closest friend. The way he would defend himself with sarcasm, yet say something entirely sincere when it meant the most. His obsession with competition, yet his nobility to do what's right when the time comes. She knew that he cared about her as well. That he loved her quirky little habits and self-conscious worries.

Moments like these could not be forgotten.

**Author's Note: **_I think I did pretty well on the length of this, let me know with some good reviews! I would like it if you guys gave me some pointers or something. I mean pointers, though. _

_Not like this- "I like your story, but put more RikuXOC romance!" To be perfectly honest, it irks me. That's a plot suggestion, and as I've grown in writing I believe that I know exactly what ideas I would like to use and how to tell the story. The writing aspect is what I would really like critiques on. _

_Thanks for reading._


	3. Out Of Hand

**Out Of Hand**

Kairi and Akemi looked out to the sparkling blue ocean while sitting quietly on the pier. Both were lost in thoughts of love and other such girly things as tiny waves weakly pushed against their dangling feet. On the other side of the island, Riku sat quietly on his bent paopu tree. He was contemplating last night's date with Akemi. It had gone considerably better than their first one, in which he was almost impaled by a lobster fork. For the past few days, Riku had begun to rekindle and enhance the relationship the two used to have when they were barely 5 years old. Of course, it was not like they were both 5 years old over again for the simple fact that they were involved romantically. Also, Riku would never admit that he ever had been completely innocent at any time in his life. Sometimes his friends even believed that he was the same way he was now when he was that young: a sarcastically competitive person. It was not all there was to him, even though it was a very strong surface layer of his personality. In fact, on his first date with Akemi, he had been peculiarly nice to her. She was in hysterics after all. It made him think of things between them. Those things plagued his mind as he sat staring at the same sparkling blue ocean that filled both girls' eyes.

Sora was entirely another subject.

The brown-haired boy was on the paopu plateau with his best friend, and he was stabbing at the various tall coconut trees sprouting up from the sand like giant umbrellas. His mind was absolutely clear of any burdening thoughts as he swatted away at the trunks, except for one.

_Why was Riku not playing with me?_

After a few minutes of using the trees as target practice, Sora hopped onto the tree next to his silver-haired comrade. He sighed heavily to try to gain Riku's attention. The gesture was met with nothing; Riku stared on towards the horizon and the clear blue sea. Sora, who was now beginning to wonder about things as well as the other three, grew frustrated at his friend's silence. In fact, as Sora started to ponder upon recent events, Riku had been doing this more often and often. Sora didn't like it at all that his friend seemed to have no time for him anymore. A cold wind blew by as Sora punched Riku's arm to get his attention.

"What!" Riku yelled angrily while turning to face Sora.

"Why have you become the king jerk!" Sora snapped back.

Riku turned back to the ocean view, speaking quietly, "I've just been thinking, is all."

Sora took this as Riku backing down, and he was annoyed that his friend was giving up so easily. Usually when they started yelling at each other, they would begin to sword-fight. This was what Sora was hoping for, but instead he was met with a silent companion. The people on the plateau were so silent that the seagulls' calls could be heard as they flew in the clear blue sky. Of course, Riku was just too lost in his thoughts to see that his friend was growing bored and offended. Sora was going to make sure he would get the message.

Sora pulled out his wooden sword, hiding it carefully behind his back. It was a foolish move since Riku barely even knew that his friend was sitting righ next to him. He brought it up behind him, taking his time to find the perfect aim. Then he swung his sword hard and collided the flat edge with the back of Riku's head. The force was hard enough to cause a decent-sized lump to form, as well as knock Riku off of his tree so that his face met the sandy ground. Riku could feel the sore on his head and taste the sand grouping in clots in his open mouth. The pain filled his whole head, causing him to wince. His face grew red-hot with anger, and he jumped up to face his attacker.

"What the hell-" he screamed, "gave you that _ingenious_ idea?"

Sora jumped off the tree and took a step back, then refigured his approach and took two steps forward. "At least I was able to get your attention for once! You've been like this for weeks!"

"Like what, Sora!" Riku hadn't even the slightest idea of what Sora was yelling at him about. After all, he was just sitting minding his own business. He began to spit out the sand still in his mouth.

"You've been here, but you haven't _really _been here! You spend most of your time sitting on the tree doing nothing but _thinking!_"

"Well maybe if you actually had a thought Sora," Riku retorted, "then you wouldn't have had to hit me in the back of the head for entertainment. Who in their right mind does that to their friend?"

Sora lifted his sword. "At least this got your attention. I was beginning to think only Akemi could do that."

Riku began to shake his head. "Don't bring your sister into this. It's not her fault."

"Oh yeah," Sora continued, "What are you going to do about it?" This proposition was to appeal to Riku's arrogance and love for competition. It seemed inevitable that the two would fight.

Without saying a word, Riku drew his sword. Sora smiled.

Following suit, he grasped the hilt of his own wooden sword and manuevered it in both hands. Riku was not so easily impressed. The two boys had always fought with each other playfully, but this time Riku was provoked and in turn very vexed. Sora swung at Riku's legs.

Riku jumped over the blade and used the blunt end of his sword to connect a blow with Sora's cheek. Blood dripped out of his mouth.

For a moment, Riku stood there shocked at what he had done to his friend. Sora, on the other hand, was furious. He threw down his sword and tackled the silver-haired boy while he was still registering what had just happened.

A loud cry left Riku's lips as his back hit the sand. The noise startled everyone else, who turned towards the utterance to see what had caused it. They all came to find a sandy cloud rise on the paopu plateau. Akemi and Kairi were especially horrified.

"Sora!" Kairi shrieked as she hopped up from the pier and ran toward the plateau.

"Riku..." Akemi said breathlessly as she followed.

**Author's Note: **_For those who may think this is very fluffy, sorry. However, the sequel to FMDBA will be much different than this particular part. Don't believe me? Well, here's a preview:_

_**Dark cloaked figures surrounded me on a white circular platform. The wind blew past, making me shiver in my dirt encrusted rags as the figures glared at me. I peered into the dark hoods, but found nothing behind the pitch-black where their faces would be. They each took a step forward, then another. I fell to my knees, huddled in fear. I could sense the sick and twisted thoughts and plans of these things, whatever they were. Dark gloved hands reached down to me, and shots of wrenching pain could be felt as my body and mind were attacked endlessly. I screamed. I screamed that animalistic horrifying shriek that haunts one's mind for days at a time. It felt like I was dying.**_

_Stay faithful readers, and I will assure you that my last story will be the best one of all!_


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